Bolivia 1687-P VR 2 reales cob

The specimen shown is a 1687 cob two reales from the Potosi mint in Bolivia, struck during the reign of Charles II, the last Hapsburg king of Spain. The Potosi mint was the most prolific issuer of silver during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, nearly all of it cobs such as this. This type was struck 1667-1701 and superseded an earlier type (KM 16) which bore the name of Philip IV. The other Latin American mints placed the date near the edge where it rarely struck up, whereas Potosi issues have the date smack in the middle, ensuring that the date would be legible even if the rest of the design was smeared. As a result, Bolivian cobs can be collected by date, unlike the other mints (Mexico, Lima, Guatemala). The Potosi mint was the last to abandon the manufacture of cobs, in 1773.